title: Emotional expression and heart rate in high-risk infants during the face-to-face/still-face.
abstract: In infants, eye constriction-the Duchenne marker-and mouth opening appear to index the intensity of both positive and negative facial expressions. We combined eye constriction and mouth opening that co-occurred with smiles and cry-faces (respectively, the prototypic expressions of infant joy and distress) to measure emotional expression intensity. Expression intensity and heart rate were measured throughout the face-to-face/still-face (FFSF) in a sample of infants with prenatal cocaine exposure who were at risk for developmental difficulties. Smiles declined and cry-faces increased in the still-face episode, but the distribution of eye constriction and mouth opening in smiles and cry-faces did not differ across episodes of the FFSF. As time elapsed in the still face episode potential indices of intensity increased, cry-faces were more likely to be accompanied by eye constriction and mouth opening. During cry-faces there were also moderately stable individual differences in the quantity of eye constriction and mouth opening. Infant heart rate was higher during cry-faces and lower during smiles, but did not vary with intensity of expression or by episode. In sum, infants express more intense negative affect as the still-face progresses, but do not show clear differences in expressive intensity between episodes of the FFSF.
authors.affiliation: University of Miami, United States. Electronic address: w.mattson@umiami.edu.
authors.forename: Whitney I
authors.initials: WI
authors.lastname: Mattson
authors.forename: Naomi V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Ekas
authors.forename: Brittany
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lambert
authors.forename: Ed
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tronick
authors.forename: Barry M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Lester
authors.forename: Daniel S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Messinger
mesh_terms: D003042:Cocaine; D003448:Crying / Q000502:physiology; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005145:Face; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D012904:Smiling / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D003042:Cocaine
keywords: Affect; Facial Action Coding System; Facial expression; Heart rate; Prenatal cocaine exposure; Still-face